
Juan Rafael Torruella (7 June 1933-26 October 2020) was Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico from 20 December 1974 to 30 October 1984 (succeeding Hiram Rafael Cancio and preceding Jose A. Fuste) and Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit from 4 October 1984 to 26 October 2020.
Biography[]
Juan Rafael Torruella del Valle Sr. was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico on 7 June 1933, and he studied law in the United States before practicing law in San Juan from 1959 to 1974. In 1974, President Gerald Ford nominated Torruella to serve as Judge of the US District Court for the District of Puerto Rico from 1974 to 1984, when President Ronald Reagan nominated Torruella to serve as Judge of the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (in New England) in 1984. He consistently advocated for Puerto Rican rights, and he never assumed senior status. He died in 2020 at the age of 87.